We’ve been looking at Stadium Gaming for blackjack players a lot lately. It seems like these large, low rolling, party pit gaming areas are popping up in new casinos every week. The latest in Las Vegas is at Paris Las Vegas casino. Caesars recently installed another Pulse Arena that is similar to the one Planet Hollywood installed last month.
Pulse Arena from Interblock is really unlike any other Stadium Gaming installation.
While blackjack is usually the game of choice in the casino, these large installations give players options to play other games. In addition to blackjack, Pulse Arena offers the following games:
- Baccarat
- Craps
- Roulette
Some casinos may also offer Keno or Bingo. Knowing all of the games is important as the Pulse Arena multi-play concept allows guests to play up to four games at the same time on the same betting station. This option is different on a state-by-state basis if regulation allows.
Interblock, the manufacturer of Pulse Arena, also has an option for casinos to offer blackjack players a unique experience. This kind of game allows players the ability to participate in multiple blackjack hands at the same time in a heads-up format against the dealer.
Playing dealer-assisted blackjack
Dealer Assisted blackjack is the game most will play at the Pulse Arena. This is a single-handed game. The dealer in this blackjack game uses an intelligent card dealing shoe. The table has an LCD display for the dealer to easily see the cards.
The cards are also easy for players to see no matter where they sit in Pulse Arena. There’s a video camera that allows the dealer to stream a video of the cards that have been dealt on a large viewing screen.
Blackjack pays 6:5 at Pulse Arena. Different brands of stadium game installations might pay differently when a player is dealt a natural blackjack.
Players may double down or split the first two cards dealt. You probably won’t take insurance on a blackjack hand but it’s available in this blackjack game.
Since this is a dealer-assisted blackjack game, there’s an option for players to tip the dealers if they choose.
Playing multi-hand blackjack
Multihand Blackjack is similar to a regular live dealer blackjack game when a player is alone. This is akin to playing heads up against the dealer. Much like an empty blackjack table, a player can have more than one hand in action. This multi-hand blackjack game allows a player to have up to three hands at once.
The cards in multi-hand blackjack are dealt to all available hands. The dealer will pull their cards according to the blackjack rules when all players in the game make their decisions on their hands.
Since this is a video interface, everything is spelled out right on the player station. One of the useful features is the timer. Unlike some single-player games, there is a time limit for multi-hand and multi-player games. This lets a player know how much time they have left before the dealer continues.
Lucky Aces blackjack side bet
Just about every blackjack game in casinos today has at least one side bet available for players. Here’s a look at the Lucky Aces side bet option available for blackjack players at Pulse Arena.
The object of Lucky Aces is to bet on aces dealt during the main game. The first two player’s cards and the first two cards for the dealer are counted. Winning is paid according to the displayed table. Here’s a sample of what may be in your favorite casino.
- Four aces: 1000-1
- Three suited aces: 500-1
- Three aces: 35-1
- Two suited aces: 16-1
- Two aces: 5-1
- One ace of diamonds: 2-1
- One ace: Even money
Depending on the exact paytable at your casino the house edge on this bet is between 5.31 – 8.83.
